THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Eighty One

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Eighty One Restaurant Review:

Chef-owner Ed Brown, who spent 14 years at the Sea Grill, governs a few miles upriver with this Upper West Side eatery set within The Excelsior Hotel. Enter through a cozy and elegant bar area into the low-ceilinged dining room dotted with crimson circular banquettes and red accents. Resembling a bright green satin veil, the chilled fava bean and pea soup refreshes. Scallop and foie gras ravioli prove that opposites attract and can work wonders together, but a limp so-called “cured” tuna still needs to coalesce. The moist lamb two ways is a double winner, the rack roasted crisp and the loin slow-poached in olive oil, while the swordfish a la plancha over a Meyer lemon salad speaks of tangy and summery shores. A bland morsel of cod lies under a flood of fried shallots and the eye-catching dessert plates, such as a melon, yuzu and honey panna cotta, leave taste buds craving more action.